How to Audit Your Data Settings
The data settings of the tools you use work in those tools’ interest until you look at them. One platform’s product director said so directly: had it been optional nobody would have joined, so the default was left on. This piece explains how to audit those settings.
The audit requires no technical knowledge and takes an afternoon. The only thing it requires is putting the same question beside every setting: whose interest is this configured for?
Before You Start
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- Write down what you use
- Establish whose account it is
- Note what data flows there
- Assign an owner
The audit begins with a list of tools.
Write down what you use
Social accounts, video platforms, design tools, messaging applications, cloud storage and AI tools. The list runs longer than expected in most businesses, because some tools were set up years ago for one task and forgotten.
Establish whose account it is
Is the account tied to the company or to an employee’s personal address? Tools set up on personal accounts leave when that person does.
Note what data flows there
Customer information, content archives, correspondence history, product data. You need to know what you are sharing before examining the setting.
Assign an owner
This audit needs repeating annually. A check without an owner does not happen after the first year.
Step 1 · Find the Settings
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- Look under privacy and security
- Account settings and dashboards differ
- Business accounts have an admin layer
- Read the help page
These settings rarely sit in obvious places.
Look under privacy and security
Model training and data sharing settings usually live under privacy, security or data headings rather than the main settings screen. Being hard to find is a design choice rather than an accident.
Account settings and dashboards differ
On some platforms content settings sit in account settings rather than the management dashboard. Not finding it in the dashboard does not mean it is absent.
Business accounts have an admin layer
In business tiers some settings can only be changed from an administrator console. A setting invisible to users may be enabled there.
Read the help page
What a setting does is usually covered in a single sentence. The platform’s FAQ page generally gives clearer information.
Step 2 · Make the Decision
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- Evaluate with three questions
- Protect what carries commercial value
- Accept sharing that returns something
- Do not decide wholesale
Switching everything off is not correct; the decision follows the content’s value.
Evaluate with three questions
Does this data carry commercial value for me? Does the sharing return anything? What do I lose by disabling it? Three answers settle the decision, and writing all three takes a minute per setting.
Protect what carries commercial value
Original research, customer data, product development information and paid content should be protected. For promotional material and public content, sharing generally causes no harm.
Accept sharing that returns something
Some settings, when disabled, also switch off captions, recommendations or search. Where the loss exceeds the gain, disabling makes no sense.
Do not decide wholesale
Different content types in the same business can warrant different treatment. Deciding by content type produces better results than blanket disabling.
Step 3 · Keep the Record
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- One table is enough
- Mark the changes
- Keep the production log separate
- Store it where others can reach it
The audit’s value lies not in the decision but in the decision being recorded.
One table is enough
Tool, setting name, current state, decision taken, date and who decided. Six columns, one page — and the only way to understand what changed a year later.
Mark the changes
Platforms update these settings and sometimes add new ones. Your previous record is the only way to see what moved.
Keep the production log separate
Which content was produced how — draft, editing, translation, imagery — belongs in its own record. That log is the one document working in your favour in any marking dispute.
Store it where others can reach it
A table on one person’s computer does not exist when that person is away. It belongs somewhere with shared access.
Step 4 · Make It Routine
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- A full annual scan
- Set a new-tool rule
- Check on departures
- Follow announcements
A one-off audit loses validity within a year.
A full annual scan
Review the settings of all tools once a year. Newly added settings generally arrive enabled and existing users are rarely asked separately.
Set a new-tool rule
Checking data settings before a tool goes into use should become standard. A check made afterwards happens once the data has already flowed; at setup it takes five minutes.
Check on departures
Tools and access tied to a departing employee’s account need reviewing, for both data and continuity.
Follow announcements
Platforms announce terms changes quietly and with positive framing. Checking the announcement pages of your three main platforms quarterly is sufficient.
A Solid Digital Foundation
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- Access rules on your own site
- Review old directives
- Archive backup is part of the decision
- The audit is learned once
Your own site carries similar settings, and there the decision is entirely yours.
Access rules on your own site
Which systems may read your site and how your content may be used is determined by directives on your server and pages. How those rules should be defined is explained in the Google Search Central documentation. On a platform you negotiate; on your own site you decide.
Review old directives
On most sites these settings were added years ago for another reason and forgotten. Where nobody knows who added what and why, an inventory comes first.
Archive backup is part of the decision
Where a portable copy of your content exists, a change in platform terms leaves you with a choice. Without one, you only have acceptance.
The audit is learned once
The first scan takes time; later ones take minutes. We set out that discipline in our approach to digital consulting and the wider picture in our guide to the period.
Frequently Asked Questions
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A full first scan takes an afternoon. Annual repeats are far shorter because only changes need examining.
No. Some settings take functionality with them. The decision belongs at content-type level according to commercial value.
Data already used in model training cannot practically be withdrawn, which is why the audit should not be deferred.
Lighter, in fact; fewer tools means a faster scan. And in a small business a single loss represents a larger share.
The one you share most data with — usually customer communication or your content archive.
Usually not, or the announcement is missed. Annual scanning and quarterly announcement checks are both needed.
Source: Prepared as an implementation guide from the platform data terms and marking developments covered in this set.